Worcester Polytechnic Institute

“Board members george oliver and mark russell have a business relationship.”

“The form 990 was prepared by tax advisors from a national accounting firm in conjunction with the organization's management. Management reviews the completed form 990 with the tax advisors. The form 990 is reviewed by the audit committee of the board of trustees. After approval by the audit committee, management provides the form 990 to all trustees for review prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“As part of the university's conflict of interest policy, all university trustees, officers, and key employees (as defined under irs rules) are required to submit an annual conflict of interest disclosure statement, in which they affirm that: (a) they have received a copy of the university conflict of interest policy; (b) they have read, understand and agree to comply with the university conflict of interest policy; (c) they understand that the university, as a tax-exempt organization, must restrict its activities primarily to those for which its tax-exempt status was granted; and (d) the information provided in the disclosure statement is true and correct to the best of their knowledge. Additionally, as part of the annual disclosure statement process, trustees, officers and key employees of the university are asked to disclose any conflicts of interest, or potential conflicts of interest, based on the questions contained in the disclosure statement. As more fully described in the conflict of interest policy, there is a well-defined process for the collection of responses to the annual disclosure statement and a review of the responses by the office of general counsel and the audit and risk committee of the board of trustees. Ultimately, the audit and risk commmitee makes a report and determination of whether a conflict exists, and, if so, how the conflict will be managed or eliminated. The chair of the audit and risk committee periodically report to the board on conflicts identified and the conflict management measures adopted by the audit and risk committee. In cases where the conflict of interest involves an officer of the board or the president of the university, the determination of whether a conflict of interest exists and, if so, how to manage or eliminate it, is a dual effort by the audit and risk committee and the nominations and governance committee with the board of trustees making the final determination and plans for resolution. Any conflicted trustees are recused from the process.”

“The process for determining compensation for the university's president and other top management is modeled after the requirements in federal regulations 53.4958-6(a), rebuttable presumption that a transaction is not an excess benefit transaction, to establish the presumption of reasonable compensation. Compensation is reviewed and approved by the independent members of the compensation committee of the board of trustees. In reviewing compensation, the committee utilizes an independent compensation consultant, comparable market data from published surveys and federal form 990s of comparable organizations in evaluating the compensation for each individual. The committee conducts a review of this comparability data, sets compensation within a range of comparable organizations, and documents its deliberation and discussion in minutes that are retained with the other governance materials of the university. The most recent compensation study was conducted in 2021.”

“The university maintains copies of its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements on its website (www.wpi.edu).”

“Michelle jones-johnson was reported as a key employee on the form 990 for tax year ended june 30, 2018. She continued to be an employee of wpi through march of 2021, however her position no longer meets the key employee definition for tax year ended june 30, 2021. Therefore, she is reported as a former key employee.”

“The university is filing form 990 based on its consolidated financial statement numbers. The university feels this is more transparent to the public and gives more accurate information on its operations as opposed to carving out its subsidiaries listed below. Both organizations also file form 990 separately. For the fiscal year ended june 30, 2021, washburn park inc had net assets of $27,794,667; revenue of $486,220; and expenses of $2,035,932. Additionally, assistments foundation had net assets of $1,094,328; revenue of $2,378,362; and expenses of $1,500,473.”

“The 7,746 reported on this line includes the following: 1098-t's: 7,112 1099 nec: 318 1099 misc: 311 1099-k's: 5”

“Net unrealized gain on beneficial interest in trusts 4,827,740. Change in value of split-interest agreements -829,367. Net unrealized gain on swaps 1,019,351.”